


Such Relief

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Set in Storybrooke, Canon Divergent [10]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hood-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:55:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15371142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Roland and Henry go missing; and Robin and Regina comfort each other through their worry.





	Such Relief

“I’m  _sure_  they’re fine,” Robin says in an unconvincing voice as he steps out onto the front porch with Regina. Her brow furrows and she crosses her arms across her chest, as Robin’s arm slides around her waist. “They probably just lost track of time.”

Earlier that day, Henry and Roland had set out on a bike ride. Regina was at the office and Robin was volunteering, and when they’d returned home to the boys’ note, they thought little of it. A bike ride was nothing out of the ordinary– it was, after all, the first day of summer vacation and it was far too nice of a day to stay cooped up inside. After everything that had happened over the past of the several months, after all of the chaos and worry, they were glad the boys were doing something fun together—something normal that allowed them to be kids, something that had nothing to do with breaking curses or traveling between realms or fighting against larger-than-life villains. And that was such a relief.

But then an hour turned into two, and dinnertime had come and gone; the countless text messages Regina sent to Henry went unanswered, and Regina went from pacing back and forth across the kitchen to running though wild worst-case scenarios. She’d worked herself up to the point of being on the brink of tears, and no matter what Robin did or said, he couldn’t calm her—of course, it didn’t help that with each passing minute, her seemingly far-fetched scenarios were sounding increasingly plausible. When the sun began to set and the street lights flicked on, they’d called David—who assured them the boys probably just got lost and he’d go out and personally look for them.

“Maybe we should call Emma…”

“Ordinarily, I might agree, but she’s currently on her honeymoon, sailing down the coast of the Atlantic. I doubt there’s anything she could do, and there’s no point in worrying…”

“No point in worrying her?” Regina asks, her eyes widening as she turns to face him. “She’s Henry’s…”

“I know,” he cuts in, press a quick kiss to her forehead. “I only meant that she’s likely unreachable and…we don’t actually know anything.” He takes a breath. “For all we know, they just went a little too far and are on their way back to us now.”

Closing her eyes, she nods. “What if they crossed the town line?”

“Henry’s more careful than that…”

Taking a breath, she opens her eyes, swallowing hard as she fights against her tears. “What if he…wanted to?”

Robin sighs, reaching out and pushing away a tear threatening to stray from the corner of her eye. He knows what she’s thinking—he knows that past experience has taught her that when Henry is unreachable, her world is about to come crashing down around her feet. But this is different, he thinks to himself—it has to be.

“Henry has no reason to want to leave Storybrooke.”

“He’s done it before.”

“He wouldn’t run away again,” he’s quick to say. Of all the possibilities, that is one he won’t even consider. Henry wouldn’t willingly leave Storybrooke or the family he’s fought so hard to bring together. But it does occur to him that the boys might have crossed the line accidently or unknowingly. It wouldn’t be unlike Roland to stray away, not fully paying attention to his surroundings and it would be completely like Henry to simply go after him. But he doesn’t suggest that, instead, he keeps it to himself and takes a step toward her, pulling her into a tight embrace that is as much for her comfort as it is for his. Her arms fold around him as he cups the back of her head and presses a kiss into her temple. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay?”

“I just wish we could  _do_  something.”

“I know,” he murmurs. “But David said we should stay here, in case they…” Before he can finish the sentence, Regina’s cell phone vibrates and before even looks at the screen, she sliding her fingers across it to answer it, and he finds himself holding his breath as his heart pounds in his chest.

“ _Henry_ ,” she breathes out as her shoulders relax. “Where  _are_  you? Are you okay? Is…” Her voice trails off and suddenly, she tenses as her eyes turn up to meet his, and now, it’s his turn to allow worst-case scenarios to run rampant. The knot in his stomach tightens as Regina’s eyes meet his. “We’ll be right there.”

He blinks, “What?”

“I…I don’t know. Henry said they won’t tell him anything about Roland and we had to come down to the hospital.” Her voice is hoarse and her eyes are teary as she reaches for his hand and gives it a tight squeeze, rubbing her fingers against his palm. He doesn’t remember much after that, only that the drive seemed to last forever and that for the first time in his life, he wished that magic were still an option.

When they arrive at the hospital, Henry runs toward them. He throws his arms around his mother, and Robin’s arm slides around his shoulders—and for a moment, he feels relief. There’s gauze bandage on Henry’s forehead and a brace on his wrist; his clothes are dirty—and there’s blood on his t-shirt.

“Where’s Roland?”

Henry shakes his head and looks between Regina and Robin, his face crumpling. “I…don’t know. When we got here took us to…”

“Come this way,” Dr. Whale says, emerging from behind a door marked for hospital personnel only. “Roland had a pretty bad fall,” Whale explains as he leads them all back to a small room. Robin’s heart stops when he seems his boy lying in the bed, red scrapes on his face and noticeable stitches just above his eye. He hears Regina’s breath audibly catches at the back of her throat as her fingers lace though his, squeezing tightly. “We had to operate on his arm—it was a pretty nasty break.” Whale looks between them. “He should be coming out of the anesthesia soon. He shouldn’t be too groggy.”

“And he’s…”

“Going to be just fine,” Whale says. “We’ll have to get him in a cast, but that won’t be for a few more days. It’ll be an itchy and uncomfortable summer for him, but that’ll be the worst of it.”

Robin exhales, smiling gently in Regina’s direction as she again, squeezes his hand, her own smile forming. Together, they move toward Roland’s bed. Robin sits down in the chair next to the bed and Regina sits down on its arm, as she rubs her hand between Robin’s shoulder blades. “I’m so glad he’s okay,” she whispers as he presses a kiss to his temple.

“I am too,” he replies, the knot in his stomach finally loosening.

For a moment, the room is quiet with the exception of the blood pressure machine and heart monitor attached to Roland, and then Henry’s voice cuts in.

“I’m so sorry.”

Robin and Regina both turn to him, brows furrowing as his voice cracks. Again, Henry’s face crumples as he takes a tentative step into the room. “I’m sure this wasn’t your fault,” Robin says, his voice both soft and firm. “Sometimes accidents just…happen.”

“But I wanted to go on the bike ride and I should have known better when Roland suggested we go into the woods.” Regina pulls back from him and offers her hand to Henry, hugging him to her side. “And when he suggested we climb that tree, I shouldn’t have let him. It was too high and…”

Robin and Regina exchange glances, as Robin reaches out takes Henry’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “It wouldn’t be the first time Roland climbed a tree too large for him.”

“That’s what Roland said, and…I thought…since he lived in the Enchanted Forest and…” Henry’s breath catches in his chest and tears well in his eyes. “He said he’d know when we got too high and then a branch snapped and…” He blinks back the tears as Robin gives his hand another squeeze. “I believed him when he said he’d know when the branches got too weak. I shouldn’t…I should have known.”

“Henry,” Robin interjects, a small smile edging onto his lips. “It’s okay. My son would have been in that tree whether you’d followed or not. I’m just glad that you’re both okay.”

Before anyone can say anymore, Roland’s eyes begin to flutter open and Henry, Regina and Robin all turn to their attention to him. The small boy bats his lashes a few time as he focuses his eyes and looks between them all. Robin slides forward, sweeping Roland’s messy curls from his forehead, as Regina reaches forward and gives his foot a soft squeeze. Roland smiles at the attention.

“I broke my arm,” he murmurs, as his eyes shift back toward Robin.

“Yes, that’s what Dr. Whale says,” Robin replies. “You’re lucky that that’s all you broke.”

“You both are  _very_  lucky,” Regina adds. “It could have been so much worse.”

“Are we in trouble?” Roland asks, looking between them. Robin and Regina both shake their heads, and Roland grins. “Does that mean we can still have the ice cream we were supposed to have for dessert?” His eyes are wide and hopeful and neither Robin nor Regina can help but laugh.

“I wouldn’t push it,” Henry tells him. “We’re really lucky we’re not grounded until the end of the summer.”

“Oh, you two will absolutely be  _staying on the ground_  from now on,” Regina muses as her eyes meet Robin’s and they both start to laugh. Henry groans at the bad joke as Roland’s brow furrows, not quite understanding it and still concerned about whether or not they’re going to have ice cream. It seemed inconceivable just an hour before, that they’d all be sitting together, telling bad jokes that lightened and considering whether or not ice cream was acceptable. Nonetheless, he feels his shoulders relaxing as his eyes catching Regina’s. A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth as he looks between the three of them. Despite how they the personal hell they’d gone though that evening, this was the most normal thing that had ever happened to them—and normal was such a relief.


End file.
